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The Conversation
1974
Gene Hackman stars in THE CONVERSATION as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert whose job is taping the lives and conversations of others. With the character of Caul, director Francis Ford Coppola has created a complex role for which Hackman is perfect--a man in complete control on the outside but breaking down within. Teri Garr, .. Read more
| Starring | Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams |
|---|---|
| Director | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Genres | Drama, Thriller |
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The Conversation
Gene Hackman stars in THE CONVERSATION as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert whose job is taping the lives and conversations of others. With the character of Caul, director Francis Ford Coppola has created a complex role for which Hackman is perfect--a man in complete control on the outside but breaking down within. Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, and Elizabeth MacRae co-star, but Hackman, in top form in every scene, is the real reason to watch this true classic.The stirring, classic opening shot of the film is a long, slow zoom into Union Square in San Francisco. A young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams), are having what seems like a mundane conversation while Harry and his assistant Stanley (John Cazale) eavesdrop from a nearby van. But when Harry carefully analyses his tape, he uncovers bits of unsettling dialogue. Suspicious of his client's motives for wanting the tape, he becomes uncharacteristically worried about the people he may have endangered.
| Starring | Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest |
|---|---|
| Director | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Studio | WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 48 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Thriller |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 01 Aug 2005 Production year: 1974 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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In this small masterpiece from director Francis Ford Coppola, Gene Hackman gives a superb performance as the lonely surveillance expert tracking the movements and voices of Frederic Forrest and Cindy Williams, only to find that the marital infidelity he supposes he is observing could be part of a murder plot. Coppola tweaks the idea to surreal effect, while editor Walter Murch orchestrates the eavesdropping to produce a uniquely baffling wall of sound. Made two years after Coppola's The Godfather, this haunting thriller skilfully taps into post-Watergate paranoia resulting in an intensely fascinating study of a perpetrator turned victim of the surveillance society.
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An inner rather than outer-directed film about the threat of electronic surveillance, conceived well before the... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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33 out of 36 people found this review helpful
My Favourite Film.... Ever!!!
This has to be my favourite film, I'll tell you why...
1. Gene Hackman is in it and he's the don. I think this has to be his best role. Hackman plays it to a tea. Subtle and understated, we feel his pain. Always worth watching!!
2. Its got a great plot!!! Which unravels as the film moves along.. Nice & neat twist.
3. Great film sound. I love the sound in this film. Its paranoid and edgy and it makes the atmosphere claustrophobic. I also love the music soundtrack with its eery signature theme which represents Harry's pain, loneliness and isolation.
For me this is Coppola at the pinacle of his powers. He made 'The Conversation' between the two 'Godfather' films which a lot of people consider to be the best Hollywood cinema of all time.
Peace. Gonz -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
One for the Film Studies Degree Experts No Doubt
I decided to watch this on the basis of the actor, director and the year it was filmed. I have a real thing for 70s American films.
I like Hackman, I like Coppola but I didn't like this film. The 'twist'at the end was not unpredictable... Hackman's character, I think, is neither explored nor developed enough. We get some crass 'dream like' sequence where he opens his heart but I got the impression that this was just because there's not enough imagination to develop it any other way: a bit like the plot developments in 'Sunset Beach' where someone is always standing behind a door listening. Hackman is good as the character - he always turns in a decent performance - but he's up against it here. I just think it spends too long on each scene, for no real reason. I wanted to shout out, 'get on with it, already!' for most of the film and when it did move on, I wish i hadn't bothered waiting. The scenes are like blobs in a lava lamp, which slowly develop, then quickly move into another blob and then slow down again. And then with no discernible change in plot nor pace, it ends. Like this review, perhaps. -
News and features
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Gene Hackman stars in THE CONVERSATION as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert whose job is taping the lives and conversations of others. With the character of Caul, director Francis Ford Coppola has ... -